Khushi
A feminine name of Hindu origin meaning joy or happiness.
Name Census estimates that about 1,416 living Americans carry the first name Khushi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Khushi today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Khushi births was 2003 (178 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Khushi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Khushi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Khushi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 242,058 Americans
Peak year
2003
178 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,146
Tracked since 1999
Census
Khushi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,590 people with the first name Khushi, which placed it at #8,940 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,940
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,590 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Khushi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khushi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Khushi described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Khushi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.5% · 1,486
- White2.8% · 44
- Two or more races1.3% · 21
- Black or African American0.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 11
Popularity
Khushi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Khushi from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 818 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Khushi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Khushi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Khushis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the most babies named Khushi, while North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Khushi
The given name Khushi is of Indian origin, derived from the Sanskrit word "khush" which means happiness or joy. It is a popular name among the Hindu and Sikh communities, particularly in the northern regions of India.
The name Khushi can be traced back to ancient Sanskrit texts and Hindu scriptures, where it was often used to describe a state of bliss or contentment. One of the earliest recorded references to the name can be found in the Vedas, the sacred Hindu scriptures composed between 1500-500 BCE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Khushi. One of the earliest recorded examples is Khushi Ram, a renowned Indian poet and saint from the 17th century who wrote extensively on the themes of devotion and spiritual enlightenment.
In the 18th century, Khushi Mohammad Khan was a prominent Mughal military commander who served under the emperors Aurangzeb and Bahadur Shah I. He played a significant role in several military campaigns and is remembered for his valor and strategic acumen.
During the Indian independence movement, Khushi Ram Sharma was a prominent freedom fighter and social reformer who advocated for the rights of the underprivileged. He was born in 1885 and played an active role in the non-violent struggle against British rule.
In the realm of literature, Khushi Kabir was a celebrated Punjabi poet and writer who lived in the early 20th century. Her works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, were widely acclaimed and continue to be studied and appreciated today.
Another notable figure was Khushi Bhushan, an Indian classical musician and vocalist from the 20th century. Born in 1920, she was a renowned exponent of the Khayal and Thumri styles of Hindustani classical music and received numerous accolades for her contributions to the art form.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Khushi, a name that has been deeply rooted in Indian culture and traditions for centuries, symbolizing happiness, joy, and contentment.
People
Khushi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Khushi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Khushi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Khushi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,416 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Khushi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 242,058 US residents.
Is Khushi a common name?
We classify Khushi as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,433 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Khushi most popular?
The single biggest year for Khushi was 2003, when 178 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Khushi is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Khushi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,590 people with the name Khushi, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,940 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Khushi in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Khushi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Khushi leans strongly female. 1,569 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 23 male bearers (1.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Khushi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khushi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Khushi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Khushi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (1,486 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Khushi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Khushi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Khushi in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Khushi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Khushi in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Khushi can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Khushi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.